


Home For The Holidays

by vix_spes



Series: Christmas Gift!Fics 2012 [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-26
Updated: 2013-03-26
Packaged: 2017-12-06 13:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/736371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vix_spes/pseuds/vix_spes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil is waiting to see whether or not his lover will return home for Christmas...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home For The Holidays

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the lovely [isisanubis](http://isisanubis.livejournal.com)

“Agent Coulson?” The junior agent in question waited for Coulson to lift his head before he continued. “We’ve just had word from the jet and they’ll be here in an hour.”

“Thank you Agent Higginson. Is there any further information? Do we know the incoming status?”

“Sorry sir, we’re not too sure about the details. There are agents who are in need of medical care but we don’t know who it is.”

“Thank you Agent, dismissed.”

Coulson waited for the agent in question to shut the door behind him before he put down the file that he had been reading and pinched the bridge of his nose. If there were agents in need of medical care then one of those agents was undoubtedly Clint; the archer seemed incapable of coming back from a mission without some kind of injury, however small. Phil forced himself to continue working, knowing that it would do him no good to worry yet and if it was Clint who was injured then he would need to get work done now because if it was a serious injury he would be staying in medical for the foreseeable future to ensure that Clint didn’t discharge himself AMA.

Clint and Natasha had been sent off on an assignment three months ago, eight weeks after it had been revealed that Phil wasn’t dead as Fury had initially reported. In the wake of Fury’s reveal, Clint had insisted that he be taken off rotation and had assigned himself to be Phil’s nursemaid. The two of them, along with the rest of the Avengers, had moved into the former Stark Tower which had been remodelled and renamed Avengers Tower. Phil had been named SHIELD liaison to the Avengers and informed that his new job would start when he was cleared to return to work. For the time being he had been told to enjoy spending time with his boyfriend and, considering that the order had come from Fury, Phil had taken him at his word and moved his collection of Captain America memorabilia into the floor ( _floor!_ ) that he shared with Clint.

It had been strange having Clint mother-henning him to death because for the entirety of their relationship, it had always been Clint who had been injured but in some way Phil had relished the whole aspect which meant that they had had eight weeks where neither of them was sent out of the country and Clint only had to respond when the Avengers were required.

And then Fury had announced that Clint and Natasha were needed for an eyes-only mission that required their specialist skill-set and with Phil still incapacitated or rather on light duties only, Sitwell was being assigned as their temporary handler and they would only be away for a month at the most. There would also be a communications blackout and Clint and Phil would be unable to contact each other for the duration. That hadn’t been welcome news but considering that it was the Widow and Hawkeye, the probability that it would take them a month was a bit of an overstatement. Except it hadn’t been an overstatement, it was a massive understatement. The intel had been compromised and they had now been away for three months. Christmas was just around the corner, even the bloody helicarrier had a few decorations put up by brave agents and Phil had been convinced that he would be spending Christmas alone this year.

Except that now he’d had the call and they were on their way back. He hated that he was still on light duties following his injuries at the hands of Loki because if he hadn’t been then he would be away with them. When the hour was up, he made his way down to medical only to be greeted with ward void of the people that he would expect to be there.

There was no Clint, no Natasha and the only people that were seeking medical attention were the junior agents that Clint, Natasha and Tony insisted on terrorising. Several phone calls plus an interrogation of the medical staff on duty revealed that his wayward assets had been nowhere near the medical wing and had instead escaped SHIELD and holed themselves up in Avengers Tower. Rolling his eyes, he returned to his office to collect paperwork that he could do at the Tower and to cancel the meetings that he was supposed to have for the rest of the day before making his way down to the parking garage. He couldn’t help but hope that once, just once, his assets would do what they were supposed to do if only to make his life easier but considering that that had never happened since he had been their handler, he didn’t hold out much hope.

Upon his arrival at the tower he entered the elevator, responding absentmindedly to Jarvis as he informed Phil that everybody was in the common area. While every member of the Avengers plus Phil had their own floor there was also an additional floor in the middle for all of them that held a large kitchen, a dining table large enough for all of them to sit at together and a living room with an obnoxiously large flat-screen TV and one of the most ridiculous media centres that Phil had ever seen. It was there that he found his wayward assets, cuddled up together in the corner of the sofa with their exhaustion clear on their faces, looking nothing like the formidable assassins that they were. Natasha responded to his probing glance with a nod that he was more than familiar with and he knew that she would be okay. Clint, on the other hand, he made his way over and sat on the arm of the archer’s chair and cupped the strong jaw in his hand. He drank in the sight of his lover, taking note of every single bruise and cut, not to mention the stiff movements as Clint gently moved Natasha out of the way and took Phil’s hand to stand up, leaning into his lover with a hum of happiness.

Nodding at the rest of the Avengers, Phil took Clint by the hand and led him out of the room and up to their floor. Once upstairs, Phil worked quickly to rid them both of suit and SHIELD uniform respectively until they were both in well-worn t-shirts and sweats and ensconced comfortably on the sofa. There, they settled in sharing kisses and soft caresses, relishing the fact that they were together again after such a long time apart before settling into a comfortable silence, Clint nestled against Phil’s chest. Since the discovery that Phil was alive and well after Loki’s attack, this had become Clint’s favourite position as he could hear Phil’s heartbeat and it reassured him. Neither of them moved except for Phil’s hand occasionally brushing a hand along Clint’s side or pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

“Can we decorate our floor?”

The words that broke the silence were soft, so soft that Phil barely heard them but he couldn’t help but feel pleased by them. They had never really celebrated Christmas properly, not going all out with presents, Christmas tree, decorations and huge dinner. Most of the time they had been away on assignments and Christmas had been an understated exchange of presents at some point after the day itself. They had both pretty much always lived in SHIELD housing since they had joined up and there had been no point decorating the tiny rooms that they lived in. But, while Phil could remember happy Christmas’ spent with his parents, Clint had never had that or if he had then he couldn’t remember them. The decorations would be nothing like those on the common floor which practically screamed Tony Stark which made Phil breathe a sigh of relief and it proved that Clint finally felt that what he had here wasn’t going anywhere, wasn’t going to disappear on him. So, with Clint nestled in his arms as they relaxed in the semi-dark, Phil had no intention of denying him anything.

“This Christmas we can do anything you want love.”


End file.
